Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Pat Neshek era for the Minnesota Twins ended on Sunday
with little fanfare. The 30-year-old right-handed reliever tweeted
that he was “now a member of the San Diego Padres” and was heading west. Word
spread quickly that the Twins had placed Neshek
on the outright waivers, hoping to clear space on the 40-man roster, and
the Padres nabbed him before he could clear and either get re-assigned or
released.

Basically, Minnesota’s patience in Neshek’s ability to
return to his pre-Tommy John surgery levels had run out. While most pitchers
who undergo the procedure wind up having a rough re-introduction upon their
return to the game, most find that in the second-year their velocities and
control make a comeback. Consider Francisco Liriano’s 2010 season. In his second-year
removed from the surgery, his results were almost polar opposites of his 2009
numbers. However, while Liriano took steps forward in winter ball and spring
training prior to last season, demonstrating he had the stuff and the command
to bounce back, Neshek, in his second spring training back since the surgery,
had not showed anything indicative of a resurgence.

The Twins assistant GM Rob Antony reported over a week ago
that Neshek was likely throwing 89 miles per hour - although Antony
admits that he did not have a radar gun on the side-armer at that time. Antony
continued to say that the Twins were impressed by the development of Neshek’s
slider which was showing “more depth” in his more recent outings. From 2006 to
2008, Neshek’s slider was an unbelievable weapon for the righty. In that time
he was able to miss bats a whopping 42% of the time when he threw his slider.
This past season, Neshek’s slider only was able to get a whiff 11% of the time
as he struggled to even get hitters to offer at the often errant pitch. Certainly
progress in this department would be crucial to any kind of return to his
former dominant self. Still, none of that would matter if he didn’t have a
respectable fastball available to set that pitch up.

Without putting too much reliance on the accuracy of the
Hammond Stadium radar gun, during my visit on March 8, Neshek was averaging
just 82-to-84 miles per hour. This is roughly the same velocity he was hitting
in his limited time with the Twins in 2010. Lending further credence to the
fact that his velocity was down was that he was ripped hard throughout his
inning of work. He allowed a massive home run to Lyle Overbay and each ball off
of the opponents bats’ were like ballistic missiles. In all this spring, Neshek
had given up six hits (three of which were home runs) in six innings of work. Although
he posted a decent 5-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio possibly indicating that
his control was on the verge of return, it was apparent that, despite their
claims to the contrary, his stuff was not at the level the Twins were anticipating
at this stage of his recovery.

That being said, even with his slow rehabilitation, it would
seem to be a foolhardy decision to expose a pitcher with the potential upside
of Neshek to the waivers in order to clear space on the 40-man roster when he
had a minor league option left. What’s more curious about the decision is that
the front office opted to hang on to a pitcher like the 28-year-old Eric
Hacker, a minor league free agent signed this past winter, who has little
upside and has had a more tumultuous spring than Neshek. In six innings, Hacker
has allowed 13 hits and nine earned runs. Hacker, two years Neshek’s junior,
has only sampled the bigs with Pittsburgh while producing some mundane numbers
a career starter in the minors.

Credit is due to the Padres who have scooped up an arm that
may have some use in it in addition to having the added comfort of a remaining
option. While Neshek’s spring performance doesn’t inspire much confidence that
he is heading towards the typical second-year after rebound from Tommy John
surgery, San Diego can move Neshek to Triple-A and monitor his progress until
he is deemed ready. If he can improve on his velocity and command, the Padres
have scored a late innings arm that can overwhelmright-handed
opponent, supplementing their bullpen at a very low cost. In short, it is a
very savvy move for the NL West team.

About OtB

"Parker Hageman is the Michael Cuddyer of Twins bloggers -- not the flashiest guy out there, but a solid everyday player. Hageman produces spot-on analysis ... relying on in-depth stats and lots of charts. He takes a sober, performance-based view of players, letting others fall for a player's heart or his leadership skills in the clubhouse. Hageman is one of the four pillars holding up the Star Tribune's TwinsCentric blog."